The Impact of Childcare on Children’s Social and Cognitive Development
Kaitlyn Fillmore
The Pennsylvania State University
The Impact of Childcare on Children’s Social and Cognitive Development
Introduction
Over the years the long-term effects of preschool childcare has been a topic of growing interest. The use of these programs have grown dramatically over the years, and more than half of all three to five year olds in the United States attend childcare centers prior to kindergarten (Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001). Many questions have risen overtime on the quality of childcare centers, and the research on these issues has been extremely inadequate. Do these early childcare centers have a long-term impact on a child’s social
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What seemed to have sparked interest in this topic were the inconsistent findings on the issue of social outcomes. Although it has been found that children who attended childcare programs appeared to be more socially competent than home-reared peers, displays of aggression and resistance to adult requests were also described among childcare children (Haskins et al., 1985, as cited in Phillips et al., 1987). Phillips, McCartney and Scarr (1987) believed that these contradictory findings differed due to the quality of the childcare programs. Because a high percentage of children were spending majority of their time in a childcare setting, and with those programs ranging in quality, Bermuda was chosen as the site to further this research (Phillips, McCartney, & Scarr, 1987). Nine childcare centers that accepted children from infancy through preschool agreed to participate in the study. These centers were chosen in respect to the diversity of the children’s family backgrounds and director’s experiences in childcare (Phillips, McCartney, & Scarr, 1987). A total of 166 families participated in the study, with criteria being that the child must be three years or older, and attending one of the target centers for six months or longer. Of the 166 children, 130 were African American and 36 were Caucasian. Nineteen months was the
Sending children to day care can have short term and long term effects on a child’s
the age of 1 and was lowest in those who had not attended day care at
While daycare/ childcare centers provide a safe haven for young children and left in the care of licensed caregivers, there is more to daycare then just temporary relief for parents. These facilities offer a nurturing and fun learning environment to promote curiosity, innovation, and continuous growth in developmental abilities and positivity in children, and they also have the ability to provide encouraging and engaging activities that endorse emotional, social, and academic development (Phillips 1987). Within these facilities, high quality care calls for each child reach greater levels of learning and can develop skills at their own pace under supervision.
The childcare years have a long-term influence on their education and growth. Children spend an extensive amount of time in childcare. There are several benefits of being in an adequate childcare environment. Children social, emotional and mental developments are greatly influenced and improve a child’s probabilities of success in school (Freeman, Decker, & Decker 2013).
When Daycare providers communicate with the child in a negative way it can have a greater effect on them after they leave. According to National Institute of Health (NIH)the more time a child spent in a daycare center the more aggressive and noncooperative the child will be. Negativity towards the child can affect their self- esteem. Socially Daycares children are more advanced than students raised at home.
The earliest years are some of the most important for the development of a child. This is where the foundation is set for the years to come. The surroundings of a child in their first years are very crucial in their social and cognitive development. With all this in mind, it is necessary to be thorough and painstaking in your research into a day care facility that is being considered for your child’s care.
In this essay, the things that will be discussed is the history of childcare, the education and training on how to be a childcare provider, how much a childcare provider makes, different types of childcare services and the importance of childcare. Childcare is the act of caring and supervising of a child usually from age six weeks to age thirteen. Early childcare is a very important and often overlooked component of child development. There are a lot of things you must do to become a childcare provider. Providing for a child isn’t that easy to do without the proper training. Childcare is the caring of a child from the age six weeks to age thirteen. The history of childcare began in the United States in the early 19th century. The first American childcare center was in Boston. Boston established the first education center. It was designed specifically to care for abused and neglected infants and toddlers. Childcare programs began in the 19th century due to welfare and reform movements. The childcare centers of present-day times progressed from the day nurseries that began in the 1840s in Boston. These nurseries took care of children of widows and working wives. Most families that were involved with day nurseries were a part of an economic deprived group of sailors. Childcare programs were sponsored by the government. The first company to privately sponsor childcare centers was Kaiser Corporation. During the World War II, a distinctive child care program began in 1943 in
In the article, the participants were 451 families whose children were tested in 1998 and 2000, using methods in which the child was assessed and interviews with their mother were recorded (Loeb). The study was based of a previous study in which mother’s and children who were included in a welfare-to-work initiative named Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Loeb). The studies conclude that children, who were enrolled in childcare, although it was poor childcare, had better social skills than the control group who were cared for by family members (Loeb). The study also concluded that in comparison to children in childcare centers, children cared for their family had more behavioral issues
Day care has a huge impact on the way a child behaves growing up. According to the article, Study Ties Day Care to Some Behavior Problems, “The more time that kids spent in day care, the more likely their sixth-grade teachers were to report problem behaviors such as getting in fights, being disobedient in school and arguing a lot, according to the largest study of child care and development ever conducted in the United States.” Children in day care may be taught independent thinking which could be a huge issue for teachers. They are more likely to be aggressive, angry and uncooperative in their early years of school. Putting a child in day care for more than their early years of life can greatly affect the way they grow up. If a child isn’t given much care and discipline from their parents they can grow up to have more behavioral issues than a child who spent most of their time with their parents growing up. Another negative impact of daycare is less bonding time between a mother and her child. This is very important in the early years of a child’s life. Children enrolled in daycare for long periods of time miss out on the bonding with their mother. Babies become extremely to their mother’s because they are their primary caregivers. It is necessary that a child
Belsky (2007) How early child care affects later development; goes into great detail about a study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In 1991 NICHD did a study on what the immediate and long terms effects of child care experiences are for a childs cognitive and social-emotional development. In this study Developmental Scientist in 10 different area’s got mothers shortly after the birth of their child to be part of this research. They studied 1,364 children and their family's starting in infancy and going through child hood to see how the different types of child care effected each child. This study found that regardless of the type of child care a child was in, The parents are actually the most important relationship. It found that Parents are the biggest influence on the childs development. It also said that it is important to pay attention to the quality of the daycare your child is in because when a child
Child-care or non-maternal care of a child also has an impact on a child’s development. Research has found that child-care quality is positively correlated with family income indicating that those children living in poverty would be more likely to receive poorer child-care (NICHD, 1997). Studies show that quality early child-care
First of all, I hold a Ph.D. in Human Development from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, and I have been a professor of Early Childhood Education for the last nine ten years. My research in the area of children’s development began in graduate school in 2000. Since then, it has been presented at national and international conferences. Moreover, at this time, I have published twelve research articles in peer-reviewed journals, and in the last year I have presented five more articles for publication that are now in the process of being reviewed.
First, puting kids in the day care can help to make kids more social people. This is important to make kids more friendly with people. For example, when I was kid, I was with my mother most of time or with my gradmother, when my mother was busy in her work. That made me very lonely because I did not see a lot of children at that time and I did not have friend. When I went to the primary school, I did not have friends in the school because I became use to spend my time
I have a part time job at the Mars Hill Preschool here in Florence, Alabama, and this is where I completed my observations. I work in a classroom with ages seventeen months up to two year olds. Most days we have ten children, but some days we will have as many as thirteen children. As anyone could imagine with thirteen toddlers, it can be hectic and a lot is always going on. The preschool is part of the main school which happens to be a private institution which is really small for a school. Most of the families represented at the preschool have a great background and are financially stable. This aspect may differ to the outcomes of the observable behaviors, than children who come from a more troubled background.
Even though the cost of daycare has also increased over the years it has also increase the child’s learning and behavior for the near future which sometimes cannot be found in a child’s home. According to O’Hara (2010), between 2002 and 2007 households that used daycare saw an increase from 42% to 48%. It is important that good quality childcare supports family high standards. Since the cost of childcare has risen, parents that work long hours have to take advantage of childcare which can prove that is a positive outcome that can benefit and enhance educational opportunities, adjust to routines, and future conflicts ( as cited in Ahnert & Lamb, 2004). O’Hara (2010), believed that the results from the study states that children that is cared for in the facility include positive child interactions, adult understanding, and much more (as cited Hayes, 2008). O’Hara (2010) also wrote, the child’s development of new experiences and behavior is in the hand of the caregiver. As the child is placed in daycare early education should be the main focus of a child’s experience which takes place in a safe and healthy environment where the child is respected. (as cited in Hayes, 2005). According to O’Hara (2010), in this study there were 325 parents and 519 children from age